South-East chapter of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN) has said it will engage prominent Igbo leaders to persuade Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), to withdraw from 2027 presidential race and support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Gatekeepers News reports that Franklin Ngoforo, leader of the group in the South-East, disclosed this on Saturday after a meeting on strategies to secure support for Tinubu across the five South-East states.
Ngoforo said the group would approach the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo under John Mbata, as well as prominent Igbo elder statesmen including former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Emeka Anyaoku, and former Chief of General Staff, Ebitu Ukiwe.
He said the leaders would be asked to lead a delegation to Obi and persuade him to put what the group considers the long-term interests of Ndigbo ahead of his immediate presidential ambition.
Ngoforo said the proposed intervention was not aimed at diminishing Obi’s political influence but at encouraging him to consider a broader political arrangement that could benefit the South-East in the future.
He said the region should focus on the potential gains of building a strategic political relationship with the South-West.
Ngoforo argued that Tinubu would be constitutionally limited to one more term if re-elected, giving the South-East an opportunity to build political goodwill and establish reciprocal commitments ahead of a future presidential contest.
He urged Obi to view withdrawing from the 2027 election as a postponement rather than an abandonment of his presidential ambition.
“The issue is bigger than one election and bigger than one individual,” Ngoforo said.
He added that the central political question for Ndigbo should be “how to turn today’s alliances into tomorrow’s presidency.”
The RHGN leader said the group believes supporting Tinubu in 2027 could position the South-East for greater political influence when power next changes hands.
The proposal comes amid increasing political realignments ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with different groups and political figures exploring alliances and strategies for the contest.
